Golf carts coming to P.C.

Tuesday

PANAMA CITY — Residents soon could be humming along freely on golf carts in residential areas following an agreement Tuesday.

PANAMA CITY — Residents soon could be humming along freely on golf carts in residential areas following an agreement Tuesday.

City commissioners tasked city staff to draft an ordinance allowing golf carts on some roadways after a series of debates during Tuesday’s commission meeting. Concerns for safety and the extent of the city’s role in determining safety guidelines emerged as points for disagreement among commissioners.

Several residents of the Cove area in Panama City rallied in support of golf carts for use in some residential areas — namely, the Cove.

“I feel it is pretty progressive and all these new communities are being designed around golf cart use,” said Katherine Shores, a Cove resident. “When neighbors are on golf carts, it develops a stronger a sense of community. People greet each other as they pass by.”

Other residents pointed to the clean energy aspects of golf cart usage, but police have been issuing citations to golf cart operators because the vehicles do not fit the criteria of “low-speed vehicles.” Though golf carts are typically slower, “low-speed vehicles” are equipped with head and tail lights, windshields, turn signals, seat belts and rearview mirrors to decrease the chance of an accident, according to Chief Scott Ervin.

“You allow a golf cart that does not have safety restraints, people could be ejected,” Ervin said. “It doesn’t seem like much at 20 or 25 mph … but the potential for ejection is high; the potential for serious bodily injury is high.

“It’s not if it will happen; it is when it will happen and how bad will it be,” Ervin added.

Commissioner Mike Nichols agreed the city should include street-legal safety standards for golf carts already in place under Florida law.

“It could be a liability for the city if some child takes the golf cart while the parents are at work and they end up getting hurt,” Nichols said.

Nichols, a representative of St. Andrews, added that he was looking at a citywide ordinance, not just a neighborhood-specific ordinance.

Commissioner Ken Brown said after one constituent received a citation for crossing the street on a golf cart, Brown helped put “lights, horns, whistles and twirling lights of all sorts” on the vehicle for him just to cross the street. Brown said he favored people bringing golf carts up to code.

“I’m mostly concerned about night riding,” Brown said. “We are going to have to do something to let people know (a golf cart) is coming.”

Commissioner John Kady said reasonable restrictions should be taken into account, but driving up the cost for golf cart owners would be “ridiculous.”

“I think we are overthinking it; it’s a golf cart,” Kady said. “People are responsible individuals, and it may be the chief’s job but it is not our job to protect people from themselves.”

Low-speed vehicles are legal in the city, but bringing a golf cart up to street-legal standards can cost about $2,000, according to local retailers.

Residents “want something they can get in and go three doors down to say hi to their neighbors or go up to the store,” Kady said. “When you start driving up all this cost, to me it becomes ridiculous.”

Mayor Greg Brudnicki, a Cove resident, said golf carts were more safe than some other forms of transportation and also admitted to carting his parents and grandchildren around his neighborhood.

“We don’t need to overthink it; we do need to make sure it’s safe,” Brudnicki said. “So many people have them it makes sense to do and we need to create a hybrid of areas where it is safe.”

City staff were directed to draft an ordinance that addressed all of the commissioners’ concerns before the city’s next meeting.

Commissioners Tuesday also:

Allowed a bid by Royal American Construction for the Marina Park portion of the Marina Redevelopment Project for about $4 million ti expire.

Approved the Bay County Veterans Office’s request to name parts of Baldwin Road the “Purple Heart Memorial Parkway.”

Awarded a bid of $345,724 to C.W. Roberts Contracting for the Stanford Road “hot-in-place” resurfacing project.

Awarded a bid of $355,500 for ballfield lighting at Oakland Terrace softball fields.

Agreed with the Northwest Florida Water Management District to participate in a multisite storm water facilities on Lakes Caroline and Claire, Poston, Johnson, Massalina, and Watson Bayous by contributing $20,000 from the Millville CRA for the $1.087 million project.

Denied an expansion request of Oakland Terrace Cemetery expansion.

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